Individual communion-service



' (No Model.) v Y E: W. RYAN. INDIVIDUAL GOMMUNION SERVICE.

No. 549,278. Patented Nov. 5,1895.

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////'/////// r| \I\\\\\\\\III\IIIII\\ UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDVARD 'W. RYAN, OF YPSILANTI, INIICIIIGAN.

INDIVIDUAL coMM'UNloN-SERVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,278, dated November 5, 1895.

Application iled July 16, 1894. Serial No. 517,627. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD W. RYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ypsilanti, county of Washtenaw, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Individual Communion- Service; and 'I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an individual communion-service for use in churches at the celebration of communion-service, and has for its object an improved form of cup adapted to'hold the sacramental wine; a table on which the cup rests during parts of the ceremony, and which is provided with seats for the individual cups so formed as to register with. the cup and compel the attendant to place the cups in the proper position for convenient use.

In partaking of communion-'wine each individual takes only a small quantity, and where attempts have been made to furnish this small quantity in individual cups orl glasses several difficulties have been encountered. One of the most serious ones is that the small quantity of wine cannot be readily drained from the bottom of the cup, and especially is this difficulty encountered if the cup or the mouth of the cup is small. The cup which I employ is formed to obviate these objections, while it is of so small a capacity that the small quantity of liquid sufficient for each individual nearly fills it.

In the drawings, Figures l and 2 showforms of the cup. Fig. 3 shows the detail of the table. Fig. 4 shows the table attached to the chancel-rail.

The cup is made preferably of glass, with a base A, stem B, and bowl C, the base regular in outline, but is provided at one sidewith either a projection D or a notch E. The-rim of the bowl is oblique to the axis of the cup, so one side F extends considerably above the opposite side Gr and furnishes a lip over which the liquid is poured.'y The side G being lower does not strike any part of the face when the cup is turned up, and the head does not need' to be thrown back. The interior of the bowl is somewhat cone-shaped, so that all the contained liquid will flow out therefrom before the longitudinal axis of the cup has come to a horizontal line.

H indicates the communion-table, which I make, preferably, to accord with the chancelrail ofthe church, and arranged to attach temporarily to the chancel-rail. It is provided over its surface with a number of seats corresponding in outline to the base of the cup which is to be received' in it. Thus, in

the form shown at d, there is a seat or cavity round in its general outline, but having the small auxiliary cavity d to receive the projection D in the form shown at e. The cavity has the small inward projecting spur e. When the cup is placed in the cavity proper to it, it sits securely in place, the projection on the one and the notch or auxiliary cavity on the other being so arranged with respect to the axis of the cup the lip F is toward the front ofthe table, so that the communicant in taking the cup from the table always finds the lip F turned toward him.

At intervals along the table are larger cavities in which are seated the bread-trays.

The use of the service is apparent from the foregoing. A number of communicants-as many as can be accommodated at the railcome forward and partake, each one using an individual cup, which he places after use either back in its seatk or on the rail, whence the cups that have been used are removed by an attendant before others of the congregation come forward.

The form of the interior of the cup and the extending lip enable the communicant to drain the cup even while the head is bowed.

The combination with a base having a seat formed with an irregularity in'its wall, of a cup comprising a base having an irregularity conforming substantially to the irregularity of the seat, and a bowl having its upper edge inclined throughout from lrear to front, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD W. RYAN. Witnesses:

CHARLES F. BURTON, F. CLoUGH.

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